SLS Fluid Flush

Very straight forward job. First disconnect the rear sway bar links. This will allow you to articulate the sway bar without having to move the suspension. Attach 1/4" tubing to the return line on the reservoir and place other end in catch pan.

Start the car and push the sway bar all the way up by hand. This will put the level controller into the emptying position. Hydraulic fluid will slowly flow into your catch pan. Add new hydraulic fluid as the reservoir empties. If you first pump out the old dirty oil from the reservoir, you need about 2 litres to flush/fill the system. The reservoir itself holds about 1 litre.

Once satisfied, switch off the car. Reconnect the sway bar. Top up reservoir to the mark and reconnect return line.

Look how clean the oil looks. You can barely see it in this photo. I purchased the oil from NAPA when it was on sale for $9/litre. The part number is; AIC 0009899103. Its the standard Febi branded ZH-M fluid.

Remove and Replace HVAC Blower Motor

A very typical fault in older Mercedes is a squeaky blower motor. This is likely caused by the lack of a cabin filter to stop dust getting into the motor. Wouldn't have been very difficult to fit a filter above the blower fan in a w126 but those Germans, over engineered? Yeah right... The fan in my w126 was squeaking for a few months and then eventually stopped working. I ordered a replacement from Mercedes, which cost about CAD$270 after the 10% MBCA discount.

The workshop manual is pretty useless for this job as it lacks a lot of detail. In order to get to the blower motor on a gen 2 w126, you need to remove the knee protector/cover/thing which is held in pace by 4 philips screws and 2 plastic plugs. Three screws are hidden behind a small plastic trim piece as shown below.

And one more is accessed from underneath along with the two plastic plugs. To remove the plugs, in theory you should only need to turn them 90degrees and then pry out. But over time stiction sets in and its never that easy.

The fan cover is held in place with 3 or 4 screws. The two 10mm nuts do not need to be removed. They hold in the resistor. As you can see, my old fan is covered in dust and is likely what has caused it to seize.

W126 in Top Ten Cars We Wish We’d Bought New

Came across this on Jalopnik today.

What if you lived in a magical place where you could buy old cars straight from the factory? Jalopnik readers thought of these ten classic cars that they would buy new if given a chance.

Why it's still competitive: These 1980s S-Classes are about as close to the ultimate Mercedes as the company ever got. They didn't feel assembled so much as carved. They still have presence like little else on the road. Just stick an old S-Class sedan or SEC coupe in a Benz showroom today, and it will look like the proudest car there. 

I couldn't agree more.

Painting speaker grills

These rear parcel shelf speakers are notorious for becoming brittle and cracking. I once dropped one of these covers and it shattered like glass.

I've had a crack in one of mine for ages and so I finally decided to do something about it. Palomino covers are very difficult to find and when you do find a set, they often cost more than they're worth.

Instead I went a different route. I had a good chap send me a pair of black covers from a breakers yard and I decided to paint them palomino.

With a recommendation from someone who knows about paint I bought this aerosol palomino paint from ebay. Its made by "SEM" and I bought it from a company called Eastwood. Here is the ebay link.

I practised on my broken cover a few times until I got it right. Although you're meant to use a plastic prep and plastic primer, I don't recommend it. My experience wasn't very good when using these products. It just seemed to flake off very easily.

I simply lightly scuffed the plastic with 600 grit paper, and perhaps 200 grit on the grill and sprayed it straight with colour. This produced a very tough finish. I've deliberately scratched at it quite vigorously and it shows no signs of deterioration.

The colour match, although looks perfect to the untrained eye, is actually not an exact match to Mercedes palomino. Mercedes uses a slightly darker shade of palomino on all the plastic trim pieces. Plastic trim in a palomino w126 is not the same colour used on the seats.

The aerosol is actually an even better match to the seats. And although advertised to be used on leather, you're better off getting something from leatherique instead.

Looks good, doesn't it.

For Sale

You're looking at a near showroom condition midnight blue on palomino 560SEL from the golden era of Mercedes-Benz.

She spent most of her life in Florida. Imported to Canada a few years back. Always garaged and obviously never winter driven. Has just under 65k miles on the clock.

Unmolested, stock as a rock. Including the original 10-speaker Becker sound system. Heated and reclining seats all round (yes, even the rear). Except for an odd tear in the driver's seat, she has flawless, concours standard paint and leather. And as you can see, laser straight body panels.

The top end was recently refreshed with new gaskets, rubber, vacuum lines, timing chain, tensioner, guide rails etc.... Only genuine Mercedes parts are used. None of that Febi or Uro crap. I have a file an inch thick with service history.

I only use it on long distance trips. This car was never intended to be sold so I've put an unhealthy amount of money into making sure its as perfect as can possibly be.

Unfortunately I'm leaving the country and it isn't practical to take it with me. But I have no problem leaving it in storage for a few years until I can. So I have no intention of "getting rid of it".

Sunshade

The previous owner had removed the rear sunshade upper bracket and guide tube in order to fit a cellphone antenna. I was luckily able to find replacement parts cheaply and bought a new guide rope to reinstall the sunshade.

I threaded the rope through the tube, and then installed the tube. Had someone press the switch and I turned the rope until it got pulled in by the motor. Removed the tube, lubed things up a bit, installed the tube again, the little spring and then fit the upper bracket.

Power Steering Fluid Filter

I've had a power steering fluid filter sitting on my desk for almost a year now. Today I finally decided to put it in.

Using a little $4 suction tool I bought from CanadianTire, I sucked out the old oil, took off the nut and spring and then pulled out the old filter. I have a hunch that this old filter might actually be the original one installed 23 years ago!